The Adventures of Lyla
by lyddieowl
Summary: Lyla finds herself taken in by Team Rocket, an organisation bent on instilling justice by 'liberating' the world's Pokémon. The young trainer finds herself stuck between either a life of crime or the chance to start anew. With her loyal, if not slightly aggressive Shinx by her side, the adventures begin.
1. Prologue

Prologue

2nd February XXXX

00:12am – Pallet Town

~ "The freak road accident that took place today left the town devastated. We have been able to gather more information about the tragedy, and exactly how it unfolded. It is believed in the adverse weather conditions that the lorry seen behind me right now skidded on the wet surface of the road and toppled over.

As horrendous as that sounds already, it led to an estimate of 10 people being injured, and so far it has been confirmed that one couple has died. Miraculously, however, their baby daughter managed to survive the incident and is currently under the care of the hospita-" ~

Click.

The room suddenly became dark as the television set had its power cut. Heads turned in the direction of the intimidating man clad in a strikingly orange suit, his face seemingly in a constant state of malice bar one feature, the condescending, evil grin that seemed to take over the rest of the features on his face. At his side, a pokémon resembling a cat, smirking down at the small group made up of men and women, the man's grunt soldiers, with little empathy for their all-in-all nervous demeanour.

They saluted nonetheless, his pace across the room causing the saluting like a chain reaction. Whether they were deemed stupid or not by their boss, they were desperate not to let him down, which was why they'd turned up by request to watch the newscast; despite how the news anchor had made it sound, the accident was rather minor by the standards of others they had witnessed in their lifetime. He stopped and turned to face them, hands clasped together, still with the smile on his face. There was a silence only for a second, before he looked up, causing them to stand a little straighter and reinforce their stances to try and intimidate him as well.

It didn't work, of course.

"Now, the meaning of you grunts being down here may yet be unclear to you. Allow me to," he paused, clapping his hands causing the room to fill with bright, artificial lights, "shed some light on the situation."

His laugh warranted the same kind of response from his soldiers, having the sense of uneasiness within the room fade a little. They knew all too well that if the boss was happy enough to make a stupid pun such as the one they'd just witnessed, a plan had been a success.

"I am fully aware that Team Rocket is not the usual type of organisation to go and murder innocent citizens in order to run some highly valuable field experiments. But, today just goes to show how 'organised' we can be. I fully intended for things to go the way they did. It seems that we are now able to go out into the world and do great things such as this in order to better it. The pokémon of the world will finally be able to truly be liberated from the chains of their owners."

"Sir!"

"They will truly be able to protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!" The grunts chanted.

He began pacing up and down, the smile still evident on his face, "YES! You see, we received a tip off that some highly valuable research was on its way to the lab situated in Pallet Town. It was of our best interests to receive the information before anyone else. So naturally, your higher ranking colleagues made it their duty to do so. They formulated this very plot in order to capture it."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love! To extend our reach to the starts above!" The grunts continued their chant.

"Go now! Rest! Tomorrow you shall endure a full day's worth of training! Then we shall cleanse the world, one pokémon at a time! Is it not our duty as members of Team Rocket to uphold our promise to the people? I look forward to the day in which we finally take hold of this fine region! Arm in arm, we shall fight for our beliefs like so many others have tried and failed to do!" The man shouted passionately.

With that, the soldiers around him disbanded, a new fire being ignited within them. He smiled, knowing that they may finally be able to have a grasp over the people of the nation. His team had certainly gained a worse and worse reputation over the years, so it had been an essential exercise to prove just how strong and intelligent Rockets could be. The lorry crash was not going to go unquestioned, that was proven by members within the team, let alone people outside it. He sighed, turning back to walk across to his desk, his pokémon padding along close to his heels.

Giovanni, the great leader that Team Rocket had come to know, the leader that would bring his soldiers to the level that they needed to be was happy. He was contempt in the knowledge that he had successfully fabricated such an event. The cat at his feet purred an unsettling purr, the boss still revelling in the knowledge that he had inspired his troops. Not only that – he'd inspired himself.

"Mark my words, Persian. We'll be the saviours of this organisation."

The pokémon's eyes glinted menacingly, a smile finding its way onto its face.

"One day they'll realise that today was far more than a boost of moral. I'm certain of it, despite the fact that they're all a bunch of blubbering idiots. Even a Magikarp could work it out, given time."

The pokémon didn't really understand what its master was talking about; it never really delved much into the phone calls and handshakes. The endless pampering was more its forte, yet seeing that the man was obviously over-joyed by his supposed sub-plot made the cat join in with the chorus of maniacal laughter that the man had erupted into.

Once he had done, he got back up from his desk, heading to his quarters.

"Yes, just give them some time."


	2. Chapter 1

_Chapter One_

Five Years Later

The crash of children's footsteps had become something that I'd grown completely accustomed to – from my designated corner of the room anyway. I sat avoiding the other girls in the home as usual, as they laughed and generally had far more fun screaming than quietly playing like I did. I watched them nervously, clutching the plush that I'd had since I could remember. It was blue, grey and yellow; it looked like a cat pokémon. I didn't know the name of the pokémon. I assume that that much was obvious.

The home was full of girls, the majority being at least a few years older than I was. For the most part I preferred to keep to myself. This usually worked out really well; they ignored me most of the time. They liked to pass comments about me every now and again, but they never dragged me around and forced me to join in while they were busy trying their absolute best to get into as much trouble as they possibly could with the woman who ran the place. She never ignored me. In fact, she took advantage of me because of how easily scared I was.

Sure, I really didn't enjoy being around the others, but I'd have preferred to stay with them all the time rather than being forced to brush up after them, especially when they'd eaten cookies. I was lucky that that was the only chore that the lady had me doing, height wise I didn't make a very good cleaner of anything other than the floor. I wasn't the only one she bullied into doing those kinds of things, but in the moment it really felt like I was the only one that was being picked on. I really hated the place. I wanted to get out of there so badly.

The girls seemed to quieten down for only a second before piping back up again, this time taking turns in the conversation rather than shouting over each other.

"What should we do next?! I'm bored of this game!" One of them said.

"Oh! I have an idea!" Another piped up.

The group huddled together as if it was some big, special secret, "How about we pretend to be Ponyta, we could gallop around and see who can do the best impression!"

"Everyone can join in," Someone else said, clearly impressed by this, "It'll be the best!"

They seemed to fall quiet for a moment, and I averted my eyes as they all seemed to look over in my direction at once. The girls exchanged glances with one another, looking more than a little awkward.

"Not her though, right?"

One of the older girls came over to me, leaning down slightly, "You don't want to join in, do you?"

I shuck my head, curling into an even smaller ball, "Nu-uh!"

"Come on guys, she doesn't want to play with us."

I heard one of them joke about when I'd ever want to play with them, which I suppose they were right about. They ran off, or 'galloped' as they'd described it during their discussion. They neighed really badly, if a Ponyta were here it would probably have run far away by now. I sighed, relieved when the last of the girls ran from the room. I could still hear them crashing around downstairs, but I finally felt confident enough to edge away from my corner and play by the window. I was lonely, I couldn't help that. The way the others played wasn't how I wanted to play, and nobody ever wanted to know what I wanted to do. I placed the plush down in front of me, looking into its beady little sewn on eyes. It smiled up at me, and I smiled too.

I was quiet for a minute.

"D'you think I'll… make a friend soon?"

The plush slumped over a little, not really reassuring me at all.

"I just want a friend that can talk back, y'know?"

The plush slumped down onto its face, and I picked it back up again, holding it closer to me than I had been before. It didn't seem fair to me, that I had to be alone all the time. These girls weren't friends to me, they barely made the effort, and in return I didn't make the effort back. I was only 5 at the time. It was unfair. I got up, deciding to sit by the window for a while. The world went about its business as I sat imagining what the clouds would feel like and playing with my plush.

That was until I noticed him. He was so loud.

"GO PIKACHU! USE THUNDER… um… ATTACK!"

I snuck a glance over to the patch of grass a few meters from the entrance of the home, noticing a little boy playing alone on the grass.

"Great! Now use uh… SMASH!"

I sat staring, holding back a giggle. He continued for a minute before seemingly noticing me staring at him from the window. I ducked down, still looking at him. The boy tilted his head, smiled, and went back to his game. It looked like he was having fun. He looked up again, this time I didn't duck and he beckoned me to go to him. I froze for a second, before smiling and giving him the tiniest of nods.

Getting up from my perch, I walked over to the door. I could hear the girls crashing around in the living room below. I took a breath before opening the door, walking carefully towards and down the stairs. I didn't want to make any significant noise, and for once I appreciated my housemates' loud play. I reached the bottom, peaking down towards the office. It wasn't open, but I could see the woman's silhouette through the window. She was on the phone, thankfully preoccupied. I crept past the living room, that too being shut.

I got to the front door, only just being able to reach up to the handle and pull it downwards. The lock didn't catch, as usual, and I felt the late summer breeze brush the hair from my face. I stepped out, closing it behind me. The little boy was still sat, continuing with his game. Sighing a little, I walked towards him, scared in case he'd turn around and tell me to go away.

He didn't do that, and I just stood for a minute trying to decide what to say to him.

"Um... hello."

He looked up at me, a little smile making itself known on his face, "Hi!"

I shuffled on my feet for a second, my eyes darting around trying to avoid his friendly face, "U-Uh, what you playing?"

He thought hard for a minute, his face contorting in a way that I struggled not to laugh at. When he had reached his apparent conclusion, he just shrugged, giving me a gap toothed grin, "I dunno, but its fun!

We stayed silent for a second before the little boy spoke again, still smiling up at me as if he'd known me for a long time, "D'you wanna play? I like your toy!"

I looked at the plush in my hand and felt my cheeks turning a little red. I nodded and he patted the ground, beckoning me to sit next to him. I did and he explained where he was up to in the plot. An evil group of people had attempted to steal his Pikachu from him (his real Pikachu as he so adamantly made clear) and he'd just managed to break into their hideout. He then suggested that I could be his back up, coming in at the last minute to offer him aid. Looking back, it's kind of funny how well thought out that story was.

Anyway, I complied with his suggestion, and it was going well until I was about to instruct my pokémon to use a move. I paused, desperately trying to think of something. The boy looked over, tilting his head. He glanced at the plush, his expression becoming just as uncertain as I felt.

"Who _is_ that pokémon, anyway?"

I shrugged, embarrassed, "I… I don't know."

His eyes narrowed and he seemed to freeze for a minute, before looking over at me again with another one of his smiles, "Oh well! Do what I do! Make up some moves!"

I giggled a little, earning a frown, "Is that what pokémon trainers do?"

He pouted, bouncing his plush a little, "No… but we aren't trainers yet! We're allowed to!"

"If you say so, Mr Pokemon Trainer."

"Actually, I'm Ash Ketchum!" He announced grandly, puffing his chest out, "I'm gonna be the best master ever! I'll have a Charizard, a Pikachu… maybe even a Blasturtle! Mr. BESTEST Pokemon Master!"

I found myself giggling again, not sure how such a loud voice could be generated from such a tiny person. He was smiling proudly at this point, sticking a hand out towards me.

"And what's your name?"

I took his hand and shook it up and down, trying to sound as grand as he did, "I'm Lyla, Lyla Jackson! I don't know which pokemon I'LL have!"

We both laughed at each other and after a while of laughing I picked my plush up again, grinning at him. He picked his plush up too, looking a little confused.

"BUT what you didn't know, is that I secretly work for the bad guys too! AND we have to battle now!"

Ash gasped, dramatically falling onto his back, his Pikachu lying across his face, "Oh NO! We DO have to battle!"

"Come on then, Mr. Bestest Pokemon Master!"

What followed was an extreme battle of the likes that has probably rarely been seen, even to this day. It was long, and seemed like it would never end. Our strategies were similar, smacking each other repeatedly with the small toys and smacking them into each other. Eventually, we were growing tired, and in an effort to make peace, we decided that I should no longer be on the same side as the bad guys. The conclusion was epic, to say the least. We stood outnumbered, about 10 to 1. We exchanged a brief nod, and simultaneously commanded our pokémon to use a powerful electric attack.

There was a huge explosion (Ash successfully managing to mimic the sound). Everything seemed to pause. Then we both fell back, laughing hysterically while rolling around on the ground. Was this really what it felt like to have a friend? If it was, why hadn't I tried to make friends with someone before?

Ash suddenly shot up, and I listened out with him. The voice of a woman could be heard not far away, and he stood up, looking down at me and smiling a little. I pouted, getting up from the ground and dusting off the loose bits of grass from my body.

"Well, I gotta go now, my mommy's calling me!"

"O-Okay."

Ash smiled, "I liked playing with you, Lyla! I'll come back and play soon!"

I felt myself getting excited, nodding and smiling, "Y-Yeah, okay! See you soon, Ash!"

I waved as he ran off, trying my best to contain my happy feelings. He disappeared soon enough, so I clutched my plush close to me and took a breath. Walking up the steps to the home, sneaking back in the same way I'd escaped. I looked down the hall first, seeing that the lady in charge was still in her office. I couldn't hear the girls crashing around downstairs anymore, and as I crept up the stairs I could hear their voices, for once they were kind of hushed. I wasn't sure whether to appreciate that or be unsettled.

I pushed open the door to the bedroom, and as soon as the girls came into sight, they became fixated on me. With my plush held closely against me, I walked in and took my usual corner, as I didn't feel like getting into bed just yet. It was extremely hard to hide the smile that kept forcing the corners of my lips to curl up. The girls seemed to exchange glances all at once. I ignored them, snuggling against my plush, the smell of the outside world still trapped in its fuzzy little body.

Soon their gaze averted from me, all but one of the girls carrying on with the conversations that I'd learnt to pay no attention to. This girl crouched down before me, she didn't seem mean or anything – she just looked confused.

"Hey, um, where did you go? We were worried you wouldn't get back before the boss lady came to tell us to go to bed."

I looked up from my plush, though I didn't uncover my mouth, tilting my head, "You were?"

She frowned a little, "Well we didn't want to get in trouble. Did you go outside by yourself?"

I shook my head, hugging the plush closer to me.

The older girl rolled her eyes, sighing, "Eh, whatever. Just be more careful."

She went back over to the other girls, leaving me to think over the events of the day. Again, I struggled not to smile, but given the girl who had spoken to me didn't seem too interested in what I was doing; I decided that it was safe to at least look a little happy. The truth was that I was more than a little happy, I was probably the happiest that I had ever been in my life. The home was still very much a place that I resented, but there seemed to be some good in being there after all. The little boy, Ash, had made an impact on my life like no one had before. I knew that we would see each other again, and that there would be many sequels to the thrilling tale that we had created just.

…

Each of the girls began to disband, going to their beds respectively. I eventually felt the need for sleep too, and clambering into my bed I for once didn't feel terrified. For once, the next day couldn't come fast enough.


End file.
